Rogue's Recruit
by capricorn66
Summary: Every X-Man has helped to recruit another. It's part of the job. An idea about the first time Rogue recruited a mutant. Just a thought that popped in my head a while back that I typed up late one night.


**A/N: Please review! This is my first One-Shot so please go easy on me ^^ **

**This is just something that randomly popped into my head a while ago when I was trying to type the characters' accents. Please tell how to fix the accents if they are completely off!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Rogue sat on the bench in front of Bayville High School. Classes just got out for the day and she was waiting for Scott, no way was she going to ride back to the mansion with Kitty driving. It's not that she didn't like Kitty; she just didn't like the valley girl's driving. While thinking about the horrific rides she'd had due to Kitty's driving, a young boy sat down on the opposite end of the bench.

The sudden appearance of the young boy pulled Rogue from her musings. She looked at him only to realize that he was squirming uncomfortably on his side of the bench and on his lap there was a single red rose. _What would a little boy want with a rose? _She thought. She was still questioning the rose when she heard the boy speak up, "Um, excuse me, miss?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yeah sugah?" Rogue asked, now staring into the boy's startlingly bright blue eyes.

"Well, you see, Valentine's Day is coming up and…" he ran his left hand through his hair.

"And?" Rogue prompted.

"Never mind…I-I'll stop bothering you," he stood up to go, now clutching the rose in his right hand.

"Ya ain't botherin' meh sugah. Now what is it ya wanted?"

"Well, umm…" he looked at the ground, "I'm supposed to sell these roses to people. I got one left and if I don't sell it poppa will send me to bed without dinner and I won't be allowed to eat until dinner _tomorrow_,"

"Now, why would your poppa do that?" Rogue asked, upset that anyone would prevent the little boy from eating for an entire day.

"_Because_ he owns me!" the boy said like it was obvious, "The lady and him made a deal and he took me home!" then he frowned, "Doesn't your poppa own you?"

"Ah don't have a poppa," she leaned closer to the boy and whispered, "But between you an' me, Ah think some people think that Ah'm their daughter,"

"Oh," the boy stated before plopping back down on the bench, still clutching the rose.

"Ah'm Rogue," she said, changing topics. She then extended her gloved hand towards the boy.

"I'm Tristan," he shook her hand with his which hand numerous bandages on it.

"What'd ya do ta your hand?" Rogue nodded towards the hand she was grasping.

"The roses have thorns on them. Poppa makes me cut them off and sometimes I miss," Tristan pulled his hand back to his side.

"Tell ya what," the Goth girl said standing up, Scott had just exited the school and was making his way down the long sidewalk towards Rogue with Jean at his side, "I'll buy that last rose from ya _if _ya meet me here tomorrow, same time,"

"Deal! That'd be five dollars please!" Tristan gave her a bright smile and extended his hand.

"What! That's a rip off!" Rogue exclaimed, but handed him the money anyway. Tristan smiled, handed her the rose, and took off, his mess of curly dark brown hair being the last thing to disappear in the crowd.

"Where'd you get the rose?" Scott asked from behind Rogue, causing her to jump.

"Nowhere," Rogue snapped, "Now where's the car!"

"Over there," Scott pointed, "I just unlocked it,"

"Good," Rogue stormed off to the car.

"What's her problem?" Evan asked as he walked up behind Jean and Scott.

"I'm not quite sure, but she's projecting the name Tristan rather loud," Jean said.

"I wonder who Tristan is," Evan said to no one in particular, "There's not a Tristan at our school,"

"Maybe he's a college guy… Isn't it sweet that he gave her a rose?" Jean asked, giving a pointed look at Scott who happened to be her boyfriend. When Scott was about to respond Rogue honked the horn.

"I think she's ready to go," Evan chuckled as he headed towards the car followed by Scott. Jean stayed behind to text Kitty before she too headed towards the car.

* * *

_Do u know Tristan? He gave Rogue a rose._

_-Jean_

"Eep! Kurt! Did you, like, know Rogue has a secret boyfriend!" Kitty squealed.

"Kitty! Hands on the vheel!" Kurt yelled from the passenger seat, holding the sides of it in a death grip. He hadn't wanted to wait around for Scott so he decided to go with Kitty. He really regretted that decision.

"Like, oops! Sorry! Good thing you're paying attention!" Kitty said. She tossed Kurt her phone. Not expecting her to actually throw it, Kurt got hit on the head before he clumsily caught it on its way down.

"Watch vhere you throw zat thing," Kurt complained as he rubbed his head.

"Hey, text Jean," Kitty said ignoring Kurt, "tell her that I, like, don't know a Tristan and we'll talk back at the mansion,"

"Your vish is my command," Kurt said sarcastically as he texted Jean.

* * *

"Gawd Scott! You drive like mah grandma!" Rogue complained as she stormed into the mansion, rose in hand, "If anyone needs meh, Ah'll be in mah room,"

"She's a happy person today," Evan commented once Rogue was out of sight.

"Maybe Tristan made her upset," Scott said.

"Why would he give her a rose if he was just going to upset her anyway?" Jean asked. They all thought this over

"Jean! You're, like, back!" Kitty screamed excitedly as she sprinted down the hallway towards the front door, "So, like, what do you know about Tristan?" she asked eagerly.

"Kitty, when we met Rogue by the parking lot she had a rose and she kept projecting the name Tristan. That's all we know," Jean said calmly.

"She's also been crabby," Evan muttered. Both of the girls glared at him, "What'd I say!" he asked.

"Nothing Evan. They just don't want us here. You know, the Danger Room sounds fun right now," Scott said leading Evan away.

"You think he, like, dumped her?" Kitty asked once the boys left.

"No. He gave her a rose," Jean stated.

"Maybe he's, like, not even her boyfriend. Maybe he's just, like, her cousin or something," the two girls looked at each other and then started laughing, "No I was kidding. I'll, like, talk to her," with that said, Kitty left to go interrogate her roommate.

* * *

Rogue lay on her bed staring at the rose she bought. _What am Ah gonna do about ya Tristan?_ She thought. Ever since the boy left he's all Rogue could think about. She was furious that any man could adopt a boy, say that he owned him, and then proceed to make him go out and rip off people for an extra buck. Well, that's what Rogue assumed based off of what the child had told her.

Rogue was thinking about what to tell the kid the next day when her door burst open and Kitty, her roommate, came barging in, "Rogue, like, nice rose! It's really pretty. I, like, hope someone gets me a rose for Valentine's Day," Kitty said as she plopped down one her bed.

"Hey Kit," Rogue said absentmindedly.

"So, Rogue, I know, like, all about Tristan," Kitty said smugly.

"Ya do?" Rogue asked, shocked.

"Yeah! He did, like, give you the rose. What school does he go to?"

"Umm… Ah don't think he goes ta school," Rogue said, realizing that boys his age would have still been in school at the time of their conversation.

"Really!" Kitty exclaimed excited, although she was thinking that Tristan was out of college.

"Ah thought ya said ya knew him," Rogue snapped.

"No. I, like, said I knew _about _him. I didn't, like, say that I knew him personally," as a second thought she added, "Is Tristan, like, cute?"

"Ah can honestly say he's one of tha cutest boys Ah,ve ever seen,"

"I knew it! Are you going to, like, see him again?" Kitty asked excitedly.

"Now why would Ah tell ya that? Now, if Ah'm excused, Ah'd like ta do mah homework," Rogue said before grabbing her bag and leaving the room, and the rose, behind.

* * *

Dinner that day was filled with talk about the mysterious Tristan. Nobody knew or heard about him. Rogue, who had decided to listen to music at that particular meal, was oblivious to all of the rumors floating around. Professor Charles Xavier, along with Wolverine, Storm, and Beast, listened with curiosity. None of them thought that Rogue would ever get close to someone, until she had complete control of her mutation at least, and were wondering how it was that Tristan was able to gain her affection.

Actually, Logan was planning threats to give to Tristan should he meet him. He didn't want some older punk breaking Rogue's heart and judging by the lack of details about him, Logan could only assume Tristan was a shady figure who could only be a negative influence on Rogue.

* * *

The next day of school was boring to everyone at the institute; the only thing keeping them from dying of boredom was the mystery of Tristan. Rogue survived the day solely due to the fact that she'd get another chance to speak to the mysterious little boy she had met the previous day after school.

At around lunchtime Rogue started panicking. She started questioning whether or not Tristan would show up. She wanted to get more information out of the boy, if his father was abusing him she needed to intervene and help. Rogue didn't even know what to say to the kid to get him to give her the info!

"Hey Rogue, do you, like, need a ride?" Kitty asked after school, "Scott and Jean have to, like, stay to practice their sports or something,"

"Nah, Ah'll walk back. Ah'm not ready ta leave yet and Ah gotta pick somethin' up," Rogue answered, putting a textbook in her locker.

"Like, okay! See you later Rogue!" Kitty said before heading to her car. Rogue gave an involuntary shiver as she thought about how many awful drivers there were out there. There must be some pretty bad ones since even _Kitty _managed to get her license.

When she had everything, Rogue looked at her watch and cringed, she was five minutes late. Rogue then made her way to the bench and was disappointed when she didn't see Tristan's unruly hair amongst the crowd of high schoolers. Not wanting to make her way back to the mansion yet, and to see if the boy would show up, Rogue sat down and started doing her homework; it _was_ rather nice outside for February after all.

When Rogue finished her homework she noticed that the area by the bench was completely deserted. _Ah guess everyone went home,_ she thought as she gathered up her stuff. Rogue was upset to leave but she had sat there for about an hour and Tristan didn't show up. _Ah've been stood up by a little boy, _she mused darkly to herself, _oh how far Ah've fallen. _

Deciding that there was nothing left to do in the schoolyard Rogue started making her way toward the Institute. Scott and Jean had another half hour left of practice and the Goth girl did not want to wait around for them. Things, however, did not run smoothly for Rogue on her trip back because shortly after she reached a deserted part of the city a group of big (very drunk) men started following her.

_Today just isn't mah day! _Rogue thought as she ducked into an alley to avoid the men. Unfortunately, the men were more sober than they looked and noticed Rogue's hiding spot. They slowly made their way towards Rogue, who really wasn't in the mood to absorb people.

"'Ey! Frank! Is this the- the- the mutie you saw!" one of the men asked. The man wasn't very old, he looked barely over twenty-one and he wasn't someone you'd expect to be a drunken thug. The man named Frank, however, was a very stereotypical drunk. He was greasy, fat, dirty, and had terrible body odor that made Rogue want to gag.

"Yeah, that's the girl! She goes to that school somewhere 'round 'ere. Yesterday she was talkin' to the boy," Frank said as he and his gang walked closer to her, "I can't be havin' that tele…somethin' findin' the boy. He's very good for business an' the tele…Whatssit called Ernie?"

"Ugh…telepath!" a man with slight stubble around his chin and glasses exclaimed.

"Right! The telepath could learn how I got 'im. Can't 'ave that, can we boys?" Frank said as he pulled out a knife.

"Umm...Frank… I don't think we should be tellin' the girlie that," the young man who spoke first said.

"Stop worryin' Kyle! She isn't gonna make it outta this 'ere alley!" Frank reassured, waving the knife for emphasis.

"H-how _did_ ya get him, the boy?" Rogue asked, stuttering so the men thought she was afraid.

"Well..." Frank started.

"We got ourselves a southerner!" Ernie interrupted as some of the men hooted from behind him.

"Shaddup Ernie! Let me tell the story!" Frank hollered, "Now, 'bout…three years ago…It was three years right?" Kyle nodded so Frank continued, "Three years ago, some chick came up to me. She _was_ a sexy thing! Told me she had a deal to make with me, had to make it in private. 'Course I agreed to go somewhere alone with her. Anyway, the chick turned _blue_ once we were alone! Blue! Lady lost her sex appeal…Though she still had nice curves…Only reason I stayed was cuz the lady still had that deal, I wanted to 'ear what she had to say. Wanna know what the deal was? It was that I take the boy, raise him until he was about fifteen, then the lady would trade me. I give her the boy and she gives me one million dollars!"

"Ah'm goin' ta kill ya Mystique," Rogue muttered under her breath.

"Now, story time's over. Time to kill the mutie!" Kyle sang happily as everyone pulled out a knife. Rogue was fine with her chances against a group of drunken men with only one knife to fight her with. Now she was slightly nervous, twelve men, each with a knife, not good chances, especially since she _really_ didn't want to absorb anyone. Desperate times call for desperate measures though.

Before anything else could happen, a small figure stepped into view at the alleyway's entrance, "Drop the knives!" it said in a strong, almost surreal, voice. What surprised Rogue was that all of the men complied. The figure grabbed its head and swayed slightly before saying in a slightly weaker, but still strong, voice, "Leave the alley and return to your homes. There is nobody else here," The men, who had been staring at the figure, suddenly looked around confused and left the alley parting ways once they were out.

"Rogue, are you okay?" the figure asked, voice now normal and very familiar.

"Tristan? What was _that_?" Rogue asked, staring at the boy who saved her in amazement.

"I don't know. After I met you I went back to poppa and he- he was drinking the clear stuff again. Not water, the other stuff that I'm too young to have. When I got back I set the money on the table and then went straight to my room. Poppa wasn't happy though so he grabbed my neck and picked me up by it. I told him to let me go and then my tummy felt odd but he let me go. Poppa was angry when he dropped me so he kicked me. He kept kicking me and he told me that you knew someone who I wasn't allowed to meet cuz of the deal he made with the lady. Poppa saw me talking to you I guess. He kept kicking me saying that he was raising a freak. I'm not a freak! I didn't know what he was talking about but I told him to go away and he did. I'm sorry I didn't come today! It hurt to move but when I heard poppa talking to Ernie on the phone about getting rid of the girl I talked to the day before I knew it was you cuz you were the only girl I sold to and you were so nice so I had to help!" Tristan said in one breath with tears forming in his eyes.

"Tristan, it's fahne. Ah'm fahne thanks ta ya," Rogue hugged the boy, carefully avoiding skin to skin contact, "Now pull up that shirt. Ya said Frank was kickin' ya, let's see the damage," Tristan picked up his shirt revealing a stomach covered in many large bruises well on their way to healing.

"He did this ta ya yesterday?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah, why?" the boy asked, dropping the shirt so that his stomach was covered again.

"Well, it looks lahke the bruises have been healin' for about a week,"

"No, they were a lot worse yesterday…Isn't this how all bruises heal?"

"Not normally… Tell ya what Tristan, how about ya come back ta mah house so the doctor there can check out these bruises," Rogue suggested.

"You have your own doctor?" Tristan asked in amazement.

"Yeah, where Ah live, it's kinda lahke a school. Ah'll have the Professah explain when we get there,"

"Will… will I have to go back to poppa when the doctor's done?"

"Not if Ah have a say in the matter sugah," Rogue reassured as she smoothed down Tristan's hair.

"…Rogue?" Tristan asked quietly.

"Yeah sugah?"

"I was just wondering why you were walking to your home this late. Didn't your school get out hours ago?"

"Oh crap! Yeah! Gawd, they must be wonderin' why Ah'm not back yet,"

"Don't worry," Tristan said after a yawn, "They're going to call you soon," he plopped down onto the ground with his back against a wall.

"How do ya know?" Rogue asked, sitting down next to him.

"Dunno," he yawned, "Just a feeling," he put his head on Rogue's shoulder and quickly fell asleep.

Not long after Tristan had fallen asleep, Rogue's phone started buzzing from her backpack's pocket. She dug it out without waking up the sleeping boy; "Hello?" she asked without looking at the ID, she knew who it was.

"_Rogue, where are you?_" Scott's voice asked from the other line.

"Umm… In an alley," was her quiet reply.

"_An alley? Why are you in an alley? And why are you talking so quiet?_"

"Well Ah was walkin' home from school because Ah didn't want ta wait for ya and Jean when some men started fallowin' meh,"

"_Like, oh my god! Are you alright?"_ Kitty's voice asked.

"Yeah Ah'm fahne…Am Ah on speaker phone?"

"_Ja. Ve vere all vorried vhen you didn't come back so ve decided to listen to your story all at vonce!" _Kurt's voice explained.

"_Please, continue with your story Rogue," _Scott's voice spoke up.

"Thank ya. As Ah was sayin', the men were fallowin' meh and they looked drunk, so Ah hid in the alley. They weren't as drunk as Ah thought because they did notice the convenient hidin' spot and cornered meh," Rogue heard a growl on the other line, "Relax Logan! They didn't want meh for _that_! Geez! They just wanted ta kill meh for talkin' ta Tristan,"

"That_ doesn't help much, Stripes. Why'd they wanna kill ya for talkin' to that Tristan kid?"_ Logan's voice questioned.

"They knew Ah was from the Institute and they didn't want meh bringin' up Tristan with the Professah in case he tried to find info on him. Apparently it'd ruin some deal Tristan's 'poppa' made with Mystique three years ago," Rogue said angrily.

"_So the mysterious Tristan is involved with Mystique. I told you I didn't like him,"_ Evan's voice said in the background.

"It's not lahke he had a choice Evan!" Rogue yelled.

"_Of course he did! Everyone has a choice!_" Evan's voice argued.

"Gawd, Evan, Tristan would have been about five!"

"_Wait…What?_"

"Tristan's about eight-years-old! How old did ya think he was?"

"_My guess was twenty-six,_"

"…Just, send someone ta pick us up soon or else Ah'll loose mah temper,"

"_Us?_" Storm's voice asked.

"Yeah. Tristan's sleepin', that's why Ah was _tryin'_ to keep quiet, and Ah don't want him walkin' back ta Frank so Ah offered him a trip to the Institute. Hank's goin' ta need to look at him too,"

"_Frank?_" Jean's voice questioned.

"Tristan's dad. Ugh! Just send someone ovah here! Ah'll answer all of the questions ya'll have when we get back," Rogue shouted into the phone before snapping it shut. She winced when she realized that all of her shouting could have woken up Tristan but when she examined the boy he was still fast asleep. Rogue gave a sigh in relief, _If this is what accidentally findin' a new mutant is lahke _she thought, _Ah don't even want ta know what happens on a recruitin' mission!_

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A/N: I hope you liked it!

**Once again, please review.**


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